Health IT Now Priorities

As the premiere Health IT advocacy organization in Washington, D.C., Health IT Now is committed to a bold agenda for change in 2018, including the following:

Federal Regulation of Health IT

Members of Health IT Now join with the Bipartisan Policy Center and ONC Coordinator Don Rucker to present a new study on the role of government in health IT and digital health.

Health IT Now knows that we can streamline federal regulations governing health IT to ease the burden on doctors, hospitals, technology developers and others to encourage innovation. We are working with the administration to champion a framework for health IT that will ensure our nation’s digital health device and software manufacturers can spend more time engineering new products and less time worrying about regulatory hurdles.

Using Health IT to Address the Opioid Crisis

Health IT Now recognized lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, including Rep. Evan Jenkins (R-WV) at its annual Health IT Pioneer awards for their work on the opioid crisis.

Health IT Now is working to enact policies that bring technology to bear in the fight against the opioid epidemic. Our members are united in support of solutions that provide clinicians with the information and technology they need to fight misuse of prescription opioids while balancing patient access when it is warranted. Specifically, we will champion reforms to modernize prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) with real-time data that is in provider and pharmacist workflow. Our members support changes to break down the electronic wall between patients’ substance use history and the rest of their medical record; ensuring that doctors have complete information necessary for safe, effective, and coordinated treatment. Finally, we need to pay for technology-enabled treatment options.

Technology-Driven Care Delivery

Health IT Now's Joel White speaks at a Congressional round table on the importance of telehealth as Rep. Ann Kuster (D-NH) looks on (far left).

As employers embrace 21st century tools to improve care and lower costs for their workers, federal programs are stuck in the past. Health IT Now is working to expand Medicare coverage and reimbursement of telehealth, while also working to ease licensure barriers that, for too long, have kept our heroes who get their care through the Department of Veterans Affairs from accessing telehealth services across state lines.

Interoperability

Health IT Now holds a July 2017 Congressional briefing entitled, "Interoperability in Practice: How to Integrate Pharmacy and Medical Care to Improve Patient Outcomes."

In 2018, interoperability remains problematic. This is wholly unacceptable and is why Health IT Now has been the leader in the fight to stamp out information blocking, promote open APIs, and reduce needless burdens on providers and developers. 2018 will see new regulations and rules that, with our help, will clear away the barriers to sharing information that improves care while lowering costs.

Health Data Use

Guest speakers at a Health IT Now briefing speak to Congressional staffers about barriers to optimal health data use.

Overly broad federal regulations on the use of data through HIPAA and other laws create unnecessary barriers to modern research and treatment. Health IT Now is working update HIPAA to ensure that our laws match current technology capabilities while maintaining patient protections.